A man and woman look back at the city skyline from a coastal defense breakwater in Alexandria, Egypt, May 15, 2007. The Mediterranean Sea is creeping higher, flooding parts of the Egyptian shoreline in... (Associated Press)

(Newser)
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The European Union set itself an ambitious goal when it pledged to rein in global rises in temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius. That goal is now unlikely to be met, reports a UN-established group that presented its findings in London today. Martin Parry, who leads the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, estimated that the rise could be constrained to between 2C and 3C.

Parry told the BBC the focus should be on helping poor countries adapt to climate change, to minimize the disastrous effects of droughts and heat waves, which are predicted to lead to failed harvests and widespread hunger. "We need to talk very seriously about major amounts of adaptation being put in place now," he said.